by Janine Erasmus Swaziland’s Thuli Brilliance Makama is one of six recipients of this year’s prestigious Goldman Prize for outstanding environmental work. The Goldman Environmental Prize, often referred to as the Green Nobel Prize, is the most generous award of its kind, and one of the most coveted by champions of the earth. Makama, an […]

Jacob Zuma led Freedom Day Celebrations today in South Africa, 16 years since the country held its first non-racial democratic elections in 1994. Some of the highlights of the South African Presidents speech were: As taught by our icon President Nelson Mandela, we must remain steadfast in our determination that never, never and never again […]

by Janine Erasmus Google South Africa is getting in on the 2010 Fifa World Cup action by inviting local school children to enter their football-themed Google logo into an international Doodle4Google competition and stand a chance not only to win enticing prizes, but to have their entry displayed on the search engine’s home page. Based […]

South African supermodel Candice Swanepoel helped launch Heavenly Flowers fragrance in Soho, New York on Saturday (April 24, 2010). For your viewing pleasure, here are a few pics of Candice at the launch, with her fellow Victoria Secret’s Angels – Alessandra Ambrosio and Miranda Kerr. Update: We’ve had a few request for less “dress-y” shots […]

If you want to meet hot South African supermodel Candice Swanepoel, simply get yourself to New York tomorrow afternoon (that’s Saturday April 24, 2010). Update: The event is (obviously) over – but you can check out pictures of the launch here. Candice will be hosting the Heavenly Flowers fragrance launch, alongside fellow Victoria’s Secret supermodels […]

President Jacob Zuma will tomorrow (24 April 2010) attend the Khayalethu Children’s fun day event at Atrec stadium in Eastbank Avenue, Alexandra. President Zuma will spend the day giving motivational talks to the children and will partake in the fun and games to be played. Khayalethu is a non-profit youth organisation that provides support to […]

by Janine Erasmus South Africa’s environmental affairs department is to launch a new crack squad, known as the National Wildlife Reaction Unit, to tackle ongoing rhino poaching, and other matters relating to care of the environment. The formation of the elite unit was announced in April 2010 by Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica […]

Here’s President Zuma’s keynote address which he made today, 21 April 2010, at Galeshewe Stadium in Kimberley to mark 50 Days to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Countdown. We’ve bolded the best bits for you: It feels almost like a dream to say that today marks exactly 50 days to go before the kick-off of […]

Time for Africa, a collaboration by Colombian pop star Shakira and South African band Freshlyground, has been named as the official World Cup anthem. Shakira and Freshlyground will perform the song at the World Cup kickoff concert at Soweto Stadium on June 10, as well as before the start of the World Cup final in […]

President Jacob Zuma turned 68 with style this week, partying with Stevie Wonder and The Temptations at a gala dinner in Washington DC. Although Stevie was not an invited guest, he happened to be at the same venue – the Mandarin Hotel – and so he dropped by to sing “Happy Birthday” as a surprise […]

by Bongani Nkosi Ernest Maduna, in his early 20s, spent the night outside Maponya Mall in Soweto, just to be part of history – to be in the stadium at 2010 Fifa World Cup matches in his home country. From Carltonville, about 75km west of Johannesburg’s city centre, Maduna knew scores of football fans from […]

A brand new hominid species, which may just be the missing link, has been discovered in South Africa. The discovery of a young male fossil was quite aptly made by a young male – the 9-year-old son of a Wits palaeoanthropologist Professor Lee Berger. The discovery of the new species was made in August 2008 […]

We thought a little bit of light and fluffy news may just cheer us all up. So here goes. Zimbabwean Chelsy Davy – girlfriend of Prince Harry – has lost weight after giving up burgers! Yes, that’s it. As exciting as the good news gets! According to the Daily Mail in the UK, where Chelsy […]

by Janine Erasmus Namibia-based conservationist Laurie Marker, co-founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, is one of two recipients of the 2010 Tyler Prize for environmental achievement. She shares the accolade with academic Stuart Pimm, the Doris Duke Professor of Conservation Ecology at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Pimm is also a regular National Geographic […]

Former Oasis band member (and song writer) Noel Gallagher and his long-term partner Sara MacDonald apparently had such a great holiday in South Africa, they’re now expecting their second child. British tabloid The Sun reported that a three-month-scan has confirmed the pregnancy, which means the baby was conceived during their South African vacation. Noel (42) […]

Some great news from South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma. He appears to have helped make headway in talks between Zimbabwe’s power-sharing government. The coalition between longtime ruler President Robert Mugabe and former opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, now Prime Minister, had almost faced collapse in November 2009. Zuma has released the following statement, during his first […]

by Janine Erasmus A copy of South Africa’s Freedom Charter will be auctioned in London later in March, and is expected to fetch anything up to £30 000 (R333 613). The Freedom Charter is an important part of South Africa’s past and was the forerunner of the country’s Constitution, universally hailed as one of the […]

We’re pleased to report that President Jacob Zuma’s visit to No 10 Downing Street, home to Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah, went without a hitch. In fact the President even got to kick a little ball in the PM’s backyard, and met with England footballer Steven Gerrard and South Africa’s captain […]

by Fiona McIntosh When his wetsuit and custom-built surfboard didn’t arrive at the invitational Mavericks Big Wave Surf Contest in California’s Half Moon Bay, things looked bad for South African surfer Chris Bertish. He’d flown for 36 hours to be there, was jet-lagged and had slept for only three hours. But he borrowed a board […]

By Bongani Nkosi This year’s Oscar nominees will be sweetened up with more than just the promise of a golden statue: each star will also receive a delectable South African chocolate bar as a congratulatory gesture by the Los Angeles Times. Chocoholic Impact, a small company based in Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg, is exporting the […]

South Africans celebrated 20 years since Nelson Mandela finally left prison and walked out a free man. And what an incredible walk to freedom it has been. Mandela was already an international icon at the time – February 11, 1990 – but he has been one of those rare individuals whose life, spirit and insight […]

by Janine Erasmus “I wish to put it plainly that the government has taken a firm decision to release Mr Mandela unconditionally. I am serious about bringing this matter to finality without delay.” With those words, said on 2 February 1990, then-state president FW de Klerk set a remarkable chain of events in motion. An […]

From an email doing the rounds… WOW!!!! The astonishing scene of a leopard savaging a crocodile has been  caught for the first time on camera. A series of amazing pictures were taken at the Kruger National Park in 2008. It’s thought to be the first known time that a leopard has tackled and overcome a […]

We’ve received a mountain of amazing, inspiring emails during the course of the Luxury Woolies Hampers give-away competition. Here’s a sample of some that touched our hearts. We asked visitors to the site to tell us who they thought deserved to win a free luxury Woolies Hamper. Here’s what they said: Nominee: Ethel Cronje Nominated […]

The third ticketing sales phase for South Africa’s 2010 Fifa World Cup has seen the number of tickets applied for hit the 500 000 mark in the first 10 days. South Africans made 77% of the requests, or 386 300 ticket applications, and the rest of the world 114 237 applications. The US was the […]